


vivace -- let it resolve to a note

by sunflower_8



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Birthday, F/F, Happy Birthday Kaede Akamatsu, Hurt/Comfort, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-03-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:08:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23334370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunflower_8/pseuds/sunflower_8
Summary: she was offbeat, resting on a b9 chord, one she loathed playing and hated hearing and was overwhelmingly sick of. her legs crumbled beneath her, leaving her to sob on the floor as her fingers played piano sonata 09 opus 14 into her hair,and she realized she never really had a choice in anything, most certainly not this.(or, kaede doesn't attend a concert)
Relationships: Akamatsu Kaede/Iruma Miu
Comments: 6
Kudos: 55





	vivace -- let it resolve to a note

the first time kaede turned down an invitation to play, she felt nails crawling at her throat (not arched, never) and the gradual build up of a seventh chord, getting  _ louder and louder and loud-  _ it felt like a tetrachord at fortissimo, her hands sweating as they slide to different sharps and flats, her ears pounding to the beat of her heart,

a sforzando of fear, a fermata that never releases,

the first time kaede turned down an invitation to play at an international concert set in england, she cried. 

she had no reason to deny, except every possible reason she could have. it was set to happen on her twentieth birthday, and she wasn’t feeling her best, and she forgot to buy a ticket, and  _ she failed them, she was burning out, she couldn’t do it but she failed them- _

kaede always said that someone’s mental health was their biggest priority. it was seen in the way she talked shuichi down after a particularly harmful case, encouraged kaito to open up, told kirumi that she didn’t have to cook (or clean, or serve) if she didn’t want to. it was a standard kaede could never hold herself to, though, because she had to finish composing a piece and she was constantly told that the world was on the edge of their seats for her magma opis, but she didn’t want them to-

_ piu forte, sempre forte, crescendo, crescendo- _

-so she was a hypocrite, so she was burning out, but turning down attendance to a competition when she was promised to be there was bad form, a bad decision,

and not showing up to your  _ own birthday party  _ only made everything worse.

her girlfriend called her, left a voicemail, because of course she did. miu sprinkled in colorful language to undermine her concern, and maki quickly took the phone to ask if kaede needed help, and she didn’t know how to respond. of course, she had to respond eventually, but she didn’t want to hear  _ disappointment _

_ failure _

_ idiot _

ring in her ears.

in the end, it was a text of: “hey miu sorry i’m not feeling well don’t worry tell the others not to worry haha thanks love you bye.” she lacked subtlety, running on pure charisma to give her lie a chance to succeed, but she was horrible at lying when she wanted to be caught.

because she truly, truly wanted her friends to know that she wasn’t okay.

(she was offbeat, resting on a b9 chord, one she loathed playing and hated hearing and was overwhelmingly sick of. her legs crumbled beneath her, leaving her to sob on the floor as her fingers played piano sonata 09 opus 14 into her hair,

and she realized she never really had a choice in anything, most certainly not this.)

she heard the knock at her door, the doorbell ringing at a slower tempo than the loud rap of knuckles following it. she heard disgruntled noises, a choir of, “kaede, i swear to fucking god” and “are you okay?”

in the end, she rose, because she knew she had to. the second the door opened, miu swept her into a hug, kirumi pushing past to go to the kitchen. miu let go to relax on the couch, and rantaro rested his hand on kaede’s shoulder to ask if she was okay. shuichi gave her a small smile, himiko made a light comment about how sleepy she was, and korekiyo told her happy birthday softly. her feet carried her clumsily to the living room (she was never a dancer, she lacked grace) and she softly said, “you didn’t have to come here.”

“of course we did! i’m not going to  _ not  _ congratulate my best friend on turning twenty!” kaito enthusiastically refuted, patting her on the shoulder. “kirumi, do you have the cake?”

“nope,” kokichi automatically replied. kaede and him weren’t very close, but she was glad he came.

“why does kirumi not have the cake,” gonta innocently questioned.

kokichi grinned impishly, “cuz i ate it!” 

miu rolled her eyes, “the twink is lying, here’s the cake.”

it was angel food cake with pink frosting, strawberries placed around the rim. kirumi had written her name on the top in fine calligraphy-- after she accidentally left kokichi alone with the cake, she resolved to be the only person to ever use the frosting to write. it smelled deliciously; tenko’s stomach rumbled and angie’s eyes lit up,

it was enough for tears to finally spill over in kaede’s eyes.

the response was a blur, fluttering embraces and voices of many octaves reassuring her. she felt  _ warm,  _ and even when her tears fell away, her friends never let go. she smiled against someone’s shoulder (kiibo, she believed) as miu kissed her cheek, and they eventually broke away when kokichi noted that kirumi was still holding the lighter of the candles.

“yes, it appears i am,” she noted gravely, sparing kaede a sympathetic look. “are you ready for us to sing?”

she nodded, listening to the horrible but endearing sound formed by everyone’s voice clashing (kokichi and rantaro were attempting screamo while shuichi and tenko quietly sang on pitch, tuning out kaito’s loud, off-key baritone.) as she blew out the candles and got served the first slice,

she realized that she was glad she cancelled,

she was glad they came.

**Author's Note:**

> happy birthday kaede. the only reason i remembered is cuz of a DR server i'm on 
> 
> i would like to say the last line in the description doesn't make any fucking sense but it's also my favorite line so y'know top tier writing.
> 
> bye


End file.
